Make a starry night advent calendar
Get in the festive spirit with this feel-good activity
Make a starry night advent calendar
Get in the festive spirit with this feel-good activity
Illustrations by Rachel Akerman
The festive season is on us! As the long nights draw in, there’s something very satisfying about staying in for a cosy crafting session. And with a huge range of expensive advent calendars on offer in every shop, there’s definitely something to be said for making your own.
So, here’s a festive project to get stuck into – our starry night advent calendar! Follow the instructions to make your own advent calendar, with a star for every day in December running up to Christmas. We’ve included templates to help you out (let’s face it, stars are tricky to draw) but feel free to freestyle with your own beautiful night sky designs.
What to put in your advent calendar
This is an advent calendar for the little things that matter. It’s made out of paper, card and glue so anything you include in it will need to be light-weight. Here are some ideas:
25 promises
If you’re making the calendar as a present for family or friends, you could include 25 promises. This could be as simple as a promise to make a cup of tea, or a promise to watch a favourite film together. You could even swap ideas with your family and friends, so that everyone gets a surprise when you open the envelopes.
25 days of kindness
This is a great option if you’re making it with your unit! Include 25 days of kindness that everybody can try – it could be as simple as ‘holding the door open for someone’. Make sure everyone gets a turn at opening a door. Maybe you can come up with ideas for your days of kindness together as a unit?
25 festive activities
You could use the advent calendar as a make-your-own Christmas decoration! Cut up 25 colourful strips of paper you can make into a festive paper chain. With each door, you can add a new strip to your chain – this is also a good one if you want to decorate your unit meeting place!
These are just a few ideas - whatever you include is totally up to you.
You will need:
- 4x A3 sheets of white or blue coloured card
- 1x A4 Sheet of gold paper or card
- 1x A4 Sheet of plain paper
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Paints (if using white card)
- Paint Brush
- Fine liner or gel pen
- Newspaper
- Glue stick or PVA
1
Start by preparing what you’re putting into your advent calendar. Write activities on plain pieces of paper, and cut into small strips.
2
Next prepare your A3 sheets of card, you can skip this step if using blue card.
Cover your workspace with newspaper and lay the sheets on top. Completely cover one side of all of the sheets with dark blue paint. This will make up the sky!
3
On three of the A3 blue sheets (on the unpainted side of the card) draw around the envelope template and catch 25 times and cut out. Keep the shapes close together so you don’t waste paper.
4
Using this template as a guide, fold along where the dotted line’s show. If you are using very thick card you can lightly score the fold lines using a ruler and craft knife. If using painted sheets, keep the white inside the envelopes. Carefully glue the taps to secure the envelopes.
5
On the reverse of the gold sheet, draw around the star and the rectangular catch templates 25 times and cut out. You can use just one shape or a mixture.
6
Stick a stars onto each front on the envelopes. Number the envelopes 1 - 25 with a pen.
7
On the last blue sheet arrange all 25 envelopes on the page. Stick down by gluing the back of the envelopes to the base.
8
Carefully glue both ends of the rectangular catch and place over the envelopes tab. You need to be able to move the tab in and out of the catch so make sure you don’t get any glue on the envelope.
9
Fold up the written activities and put one in each envelope. Secure by pushing the envelope tab into the catch below.
10
If you have space on the background, add some extra stars, glitter or sequins!
We’d love to see your creations! Tag us on social media or email us at yourvoice@girlguiding.org.uk